Smart User Experiences

I focus on designing solutions that address real user needs while driving measurable business and technical outcomes—helping teams move faster, reduce unnecessary complexity, and build products that are easier to adopt, scale, and grow.

VIEW SELECTED WORKCAPABILITIES

Selected Work

A curated selection of projects that demonstrate how I approach complex problems, work across disciplines, and deliver outcomes in real-world environments.

Each case study highlights not just what was designed, but how decisions were made, tradeoffs navigated, and impact achieved.

 

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How I Work

My approach is pragmatic and adaptable. Rather than applying a rigid process, I focus on creating clarity, momentum, and alignment—using the right methods for the context at hand.
At a high level, my work follows four reinforcing modes:

Capabilities

These are the areas where I consistently deliver value across teams, products, and systems.

IDENTITY, ACCESS & SECURITY

Public and professional facing products and tools.

BUSINESS ANALYTICS & INTELLIGENCE

Insight empowered decision-making tools.

MUSIC, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

Easier, richer and more enjoyable interactive experiences.

DEVICE & SYSTEM CONTROL

Smart yet easy human experiences with technology.

WEB SITES & APPS

Design & handoff for HTML, AngularJS, CSS

MOBILE & HANDHELD

Android, iOS native and web responsive.

TOUCH SCREEN

UX interactions for tablet, kiosk and embedded screens.

DESKTOP APPS

Windows .Net clients and servers.

TV & REMOTE

Television interaction using remote control.

SPEECH

AI based speech recognition & synthesis natural language and sematic structured interfaces.

Lead
Listen
Design
Measure
Build
Guiding Management Principles
  • Objective & measurable decision making: quality info = quality decisions = quality product
  • Risk management
  • Expectation management
  • Team-buy in
Project Management Skills
  • Team recruiting
  • Mentoring, training
  • UX Evangelization
  • Planning, Estimation
  • Agile, Jira, Trello, Confluence
  • Progress Communication
  • 3rd Party Management
Deliverables
  • Product roadmaps
  • Project plans
  • Project budgets
Guiding Research Principles
  • Clear & insightful understanding of problem domain & users (the job)
  • Focus on importance, satisfaction, underserved needs (job outcomes)
Skills
  • Jobs to be Done Research
  • User Modeling
  • Heuristic Evaluation
  • User Interviewing & Testing
    • In person, remote
    • Moderated & unmoderated
  • Design Reviews
  • UX Surveys
  • Usage Analysis
Deliverables
Findings & Recommendation Reports for:
  • Experience Mapping
  • UX Evaluation (expert review)
  • User Testing
  • Usage Analysis
Guiding Design Principles
  • Focus on outcomes (hole, not drill) of personas & their jobs/use cases
  • Design to functional, emotional & social user experience outcomes
  • Make technology transparent, but empowering
  • Progressive & need based disclosure of functionality
  • Overcome constraints
  • Create value
  • Solve user, technical & business outcomes together
Skills
Conceptual
  • Ideation
  • Sketching
  • 3D rendering & animation
  • Strategic design
  • Contextual design
Interaction
  • Sketching
  • UI design
  • Component design
  • Flow diagrams
Visual
  • Comping
  • Brand realization
  • Appealing aesthetics
  • Product style guidelines
Deliverables
  • Concept sketches & renderings
  • Detailed designs
  • Interactive Mockups
Guiding Testing Principles
  • Validate solution with users, business & development stakeholders
  • Measure UX gap between desired job outcomes & current outcomes provided
  • Measure usability, acceptance & other prioritized UX metrics
Skills
  • Design Reviews
  • Heuristic Evaluation
  • User testing
    • In person, remote (one on one)
    • Moderated & unmoderated
  • UX Surveys
  • Usage analysis
Deliverables
Findings & Recommendations Reports for:
  • UX Evaluation (expert review)
  • User testing
  • Usage analysis
UX Outcome Metrics
  • Usefulness, Desirability
  • Satisfaction & Importance of outcomes
  • Learnability
  • Ease of Use
  • Efficiency
  • Effectiveness
  • Speed/responsiveness
  • Simplicity
  • Non-constraining
  • Mental model match
  • Tool/info availability
  • Job/Use case match
  • Ability to achieve outcomes
  • Consistency, Integrity
  • Look/Aesthetic
Guiding Development Principles
  • Efficiently implement from clear vision
  • Team design buy-in
  • Implementation alignment to design (built as designed
Skills
Dev. Support
  • UI asset handoff
  • Team collaboration & clarification
  • Built as designed reviews
  • Agile, Jira, Github
Prototyping
  • Javascript/CSS/HTML
  • C#
  • Java
Deliverables
  • Detailed specifications
  • Interactive Mockups
  • UI Assets
Designing for Business Outcomes
Efficiency & Scale
Technology-Aware Design
Creative Problem Solving
Product & Domain Breadth
  • Reducing design and development friction through clearer workflows and systems
  • Aligning UX decisions with product strategy and revenue goals
  • Creating solutions that support customer acquisition, retention, and growth
  • Enabling faster iteration and more efficient cross-functional collaboration
  • Leveraging emerging and established technologies to create new opportunities
  • Designing human-centered interfaces for complex or data-driven systems
  • Applying structured thinking and creativity to ambiguous challenges
  • Identifying opportunities where others see constraints
  • Experience across a wide range of UX and product domains
  • Designing for multiple platforms, interaction modalities, and user contexts
CASE STUDIES

ABOUT

I’m an experienced product and UX designer who works at the intersection of user needs, business goals, and technical constraints. My background spans complex systems, enterprise platforms, and data-driven products—environments where clarity is hard-won and decisions carry real consequences.

I’m most effective in ambiguous problem spaces, helping teams align around what matters, make informed tradeoffs, and move forward with confidence. I bring a calm, structured presence to collaboration, and I value rigor without rigidity—balancing thoughtful exploration with practical execution.

Beyond design craft, I care deeply about outcomes. I’m motivated by seeing products become easier to use, teams become more aligned, and ideas turn into solutions that hold up in the real world. I aim to contribute not just designs, but clearer thinking and durable direction for the teams I work with.

THANK YOU

If you’re tackling a complex product challenge or looking to bring greater clarity and momentum to your work, I’d welcome a conversation. I partner closely with teams to understand their goals, constraints, and opportunities—and help translate that understanding into thoughtful, effective solutions. If you’re looking for a designer who can act as a catalyst, apply proven techniques, and contribute meaningfully to achieving your outcomes, let’s connect and explore how I can support your work.

949.878.2167

doug@smartuxdesigns.com

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